Chapter Twelve
Nick, who had drinks for himself and Hannah, stepped out of the lodge and onto the balcony that was wrapped around the second floor. Hannah sat at the table that set in the northeast corner. She was looking at the scenery before her. Walking over to her, Nick handed her a glass before sitting down opposite.
"He'll be all right. Audra and our friends are great with children." Nick said, assuming she was thinking about her nephew.
"I was only partly thinking about Chad." Hannah gave him a small smile, took the drink and then said, "I was actually thinking that, as much as I no longer care for Macklin, I am actually grateful he did make an appearance in Stockton." She wasn't surprised by the shocked look that appeared on Nick's face. That is, until she added, "It enabled us to talk to your family; they never should have been left in the dark. I hated that part."
Nick leaned his chair against the balcony railing and nodded. "I know. Still, as Jarrod said before we came up here, they might not like the fact that we said nothing only, after learning everything, they understood why."
"They really are the best." Hannah said, remembering how Nick had told her more than once since the two of them had met that he had the best family possible. "Just don't tell my family I said that." Hannah said just before finishing her drink and setting the empty glass on the table in front of her.
Her family, Nick shook his head and asked, due to some of the things she'd said to him in the past, "Will they really disown you once they learn you've taken your sister's son in as your own and married me?" That was one thing he was having a hard time wrapping his head around. Sure, he knew his family would not be happy when he showed up with a wife and son unannounced, nor would they appreciate having been kept in the dark, once they learned the truth, but he had never lived with the fear of being disowned or even not supporting him in whatever way they could.
Hannah closed her eyes for a moment and then let out a half hearted 'humph'. "My sister was the black sheep of the family as it were." Hannah opened her eyes. "At least, that's what my family claimed. Moving in with your third cousin Jeremiah, with no intention of marrying him, only cemented that in their minds. When Chad, or Johnny as my sister called him, was born, my family wouldn't even acknowledge him." She paused and then let out a sad sigh, "I didn't approve of my sister's lifestyle or many things she chose to do, but she was my sister. She also had a lot of good in her. I wanted to help her where I could, and I couldn't do that if I treated her the way the rest of the family was. So," she shrugged her shoulders, "I went behind my family's back and communicated with her and, sometimes, wired her money when she needed it. My word, it's not like she was using the money for anything illegal, or that she never paid me back. As it was, they are barely talking to me because my sister, Jeremiah, my cousin and I happened to cross paths and overhear Crown and one of his associates talking. As I told you, it was that conversation; the one we were going to testify about when the three of them were killed."
"And Crown? They didn't want you to help bring that man to justice?" That really boggled Nick's mind.
"Nope," Hannah said with disgust in her voice. "Didn't want me to get involved, wanted me to 'turn my back on my sister and her bastard, and live my life clean, minding my own business'." She then turned her face away from the scenery and looked at Nick. "But how could I do that when it would mean letting a guilty man walk away and do who knows what else to the innocent people around him. And how I turn on my sister after being the only family she had to lean on?" She went on to say that she had told her family, as politely as she could that-as much as she loved them-she could not do as they asked.
Nick couldn't help but smile. He liked her attitude. Though, the smile faded just a little as he asked, "And our marriage? How will they handle it?"
Hannah didn't say anything as she gazed upon Nick, running every minute through her mind since meeting him. The marriage to him had started out as a marriage in name only, a way to protect herself and Chad. A relationship that could be easily annulled later. Only, somewhere along the way, she realized her heart had crossed the line. "I'd say what our marriage becomes is up to us, not them. Real question is do you want to keep a wife when you know we'll-most likely-never be accepted by them?" Hannah replied, as she allowed the feelings she'd developed towards Nick to show in her eyes.
Nick inhaled sharply, as she did so. "However, unless the two of you have already made this a real marriage, don't consummate your relationship. I won't be able to get it annulled later if you do." Jarrod's words came back to the hot tempered rancher, but he simply pushed the words aside and effortlessly moved to Hannah's side. Somewhere between the vows they'd exchanged in Wyoming to the moment Jarrod walked in and slammed the door Nick realized he'd fallen in love with Hannah. "Your family is blind. The moment this ordeal is over, what do you say about taking our vows again and not in front of just a judge and his half-awake mother?" Nick asked as he leaned forward, praying he wouldn't hear any objection.
Hannah's only answer was to wrap her arms around his neck as she melted into the kiss being offered by her very trustworthy and handsome husband. Her heart fluttered and her skin flushed as the kiss deepened. When he lifted her out of the chair and headed back into the lodge, Hannah offered no objection.
~oOo~
Macklin did his best not to cuss as the train he was travelling on screeched to a halt. Why on earth was it stopping in the middle of nowhere? He didn't have to wait but a few moments to find out, as one of the conductors strolled through and told the passengers there was some debris on the tracks that needed to be removed. "We shouldn't be but ten minutes or so." The conductor told them just before exiting the car and disappearing into another.
"Just my luck," Macklin thought as he looked out the window. As he waited his mind turned back to Jarrod and the rest of the Barkleys. He started cursing. Maybe he should have called off that charade and came up with something else. He had counted on Jarrod Barkley's help as the man seemed to have a way of attracting women's attention; Macklin had seen that first hand back in Washington. "Oh well, I can be just a persuasive." Macklin told himself as he fell asleep.